Safe from Harm (15 page)

He was actually disappointed when their destination came into view and he had to park the Charger. But then Elle's eyes opened, and she laughed and turned toward him, grinning from ear to ear, her green eyes sparkling with delight.

“You're kidding me!” she cried, gesturing toward the entrance to the county fairgrounds. “You can't go in there. You can barely walk.”

“Hey, if there's a foot-long chili dog and a lemonade shakeup in it for me, I can manage a little hike around the fairgrounds.” He got out of the car and came around to open her door. “Now, c'mon. You could use a little fun today, am I right?”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded and hopped out. “But be prepared, I fully intend to kick your ass on the midway.”

A few minutes later, they were settling onto a bench side by side with chili dogs and lemonade, the music from a nearby country music concert drowning out the conversations of those at the adjacent tables and giving him an excuse to lean toward Elle when he asked, “How's your lunch?”

She turned her head to answer and flushed when her nose nearly brushed against his. But she didn't back away before she said, “Delicious. Thank you.”

When she still didn't pull back, Gabe's pulse began to race, and it was all he could do not to lean in just another inch and capture those full lips that were turned up in a sultry grin. But he forced himself to draw away and turn his attention back to his food. He was finally managing to break through her defenses. He sure as hell didn't want to ruin it by moving too fast. He wanted to savor every moment, every look, every caress.

And today was about her. He hadn't been joking when he'd said she needed to have a little fun. He knew the dark mood he always found himself in on the anniversary of his mother's death, and if there was anything he could do to spare Elle that kind of sorrow, he was glad to do it. It was worth it just to see her smile, hear her laugh.

As soon as they finished eating, they headed toward the midway where Elle made good on her threat to completely trounce him at the ring toss. But he paid her back by totally killing it at the shooting gallery—in spite of her efforts to throw off his shots by blowing in his ear. Which he had to admit, he didn't mind one damned bit.

“So how are you holding up?” she asked as they shared a bag of cotton candy, the sugar crystals clinging to her lips, tempting as hell.

He forced himself to look away and focus on where he was walking after he nearly plowed into a woman pushing a stroller. “I'm okay,” he lied. His leg had gone from sore to throbbing, but he wasn't about to call it a day just yet.

Of course, she saw right through him. “Liar,” she said with a laugh. “We should get you home.”

“I'm fine,” he insisted. “Besides, you haven't gone on any of the carnival rides.”

Her brows shot up at this. “Are you serious? We're hardly teenagers, Gabe.”

“So what?” he countered. “There's nothing that says grown men and women can't act like kids now and then.” He gestured to an elderly couple climbing aboard the Ferris wheel. “They have at least a
couple
of years on us, don't you think?”

She grimaced a little. “The truth is, I'm afraid of heights. If I get stuck at the top of that thing, I'll have a total panic attack.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “You? Afraid? Don't believe it.”

She shook her head, casting a nervous glance toward the Ferris wheel. “Believe it. I'm terrified.”

“Would it help if I held your hand?” he asked, reaching tentatively for her fingertips. When he looked up from her hand, he was surprised to see her chest heaving with short, shallow breaths. He took a step closer, frowning with concern. “Hey, it's okay. We don't have to go if you're that scared.”

She shook her head, her cheeks flooding with color. “No, it's not that. I, uh…” She pulled her fingertips from his grasp and took a step back, forcing a smile. “Let's go. I'll be fine.”

“You sure?”

She shook her head with a tremulous little laugh. “No. Not at all. But I have to conquer this fear sometime, right?”

* * *

A moment later, they were sitting in the Ferris wheel car, swaying gently as it stopped to allow others to board.

“Okay, I was wrong,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut. “This was a bad idea. A really,
really
bad idea. I think I'm going to throw up.”

“Oh God, don't do that,” Gabe pleaded. “The poor kids beneath us will be traumatized for life.”

She actually laughed a little, then took a deep breath and forced her eyes open. And immediately regretted it. “Oh crap. We're not even at the top yet.”

“Hey,” Gabe said softly. “Look at me.” When she turned her head slowly toward him, finally meeting his soothing gaze, he gently grasped her chin. “I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Elle. I swear it.”

Elle's stomach flipped end over end at the intensity of his promise. “I believe you.”

His thumb smoothed lightly over her skin and his gaze dropped down to her lips. But as his head dipped ever so slightly toward hers, the jolt of the Ferris wheel made her gasp and he pulled back.

“I'm sorry, honey,” he said. “I'll flag the guy down and let him know we want to get off.”

She shook her head. “No. I can do this.” Then, impulsively, she reached for his hand, twining her fingers with his, and found it did help to know he was there beside her, that he had sworn to keep her safe.

She was just about to tell him so when she suddenly caught sight of a familiar face. One of Jeb Monroe's sons—Jeremy—was standing across from the Ferris wheel, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against a low fence post, staring up at her.

“Oh God,” she whispered, her skin prickling with fear that had nothing to do with heights. “He's here.”

“Who?” Gabe asked, following her line of sight.

“Jeremy Monroe.”

“I'm sure he was probably just visiting the fair and happened to see us up here,” Gabe assured her, but she could feel the tension in his muscles and knew he wasn't as unconcerned as he appeared.

When she gave him an irritated look, he raised her hand to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss to her palm that sent a jolt of desire through her body. “I think you're trying to distract me, Gabe Dawson.”

He winked at her. “Is it working?”

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to where Jeremy Monroe had been watching them, but he was gone, having vanished into the crowds milling around the midway.

“I made you a promise, Elle,” Gabe reminded her, caressing her skin in a maddeningly sensual motion. “I'll do whatever necessary to keep you safe.”

She turned to meet his gaze, the heat she saw there practically searing her skin. Or maybe that was just the warmth spreading through her body, a fire that burned so intensely Elle worried she might spontaneously combust if she didn't soon get some relief.

“They're at the fair.”

“The fair?” Jeb repeated, not quite sure he'd heard his son correctly.

“Yes, sir,” Jeremy assured him. “Looks to me like they're on a date.”

Jeb Monroe shook his head. He
knew
the deputy and that whore were fucking each other. Well, all the more reason to provide her with a little reminder of how fleeting life could be. She'd clearly forgotten what it was like to mourn a lost family member. But
he
remembered, remembered every day.

“Do you have the items I gave you?” he demanded of his son.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, then, why the hell are you on the phone with me, boy?” Jeb raged. “Get your ass moving and complete your mission.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jeb hung up and turned to storm from his study but came to an abrupt halt when he saw his wife standing in the doorway, her eyes swollen and puffy. “What do you want?” he sighed. He'd grown tired of her continued uselessness. If she was going to mourn their son, she needed to channel her grief and do something productive—like exacting justice on those who'd taken him from them—instead of wallowing around the house, looking like hell.

“Where's Jeremy?” she demanded. “Where is my son?”

“He's doing his duty. Which is more than I can say for you.” He looked her up and down, his expression twisting with disgust at how she'd let herself go. “When was the last time you bothered to make yourself presentable?”

She clenched her fists at her sides and lifted her chin at an angle he didn't altogether care for. “What are you making Jeremy do for you? What is this ‘mission' you've sent him on?”

“If I'd wanted you to know, I would've already told you,” he growled, charging forward and grabbing her by the arm, shoving her through the doorway. “If you want to see justice for our boys, you'll let me handle it and not question my judgment.”

He slammed the door to his study and turned back to his computer. He generally wasn't a fan of the Internet, didn't trust it. Too many idiots voicing their ignorant opinions or spreading rumors and lies. But he had to admit it came in handy now and then, and had proven to be a useful tool for sharing his vision.

Jeb grinned as he scrolled through the newspaper article he'd printed and had given to Jeremy to deliver. Elle McCoy once knew what it was like to lose those she cared about. It was too bad she'd forgotten what that felt like, the emptiness such a loss leaves in one's soul. Well, she'd soon remember. He wanted her to suffer for a while before he took his final revenge upon her. And this little bit of news was exactly what he needed to make that suffering complete. It seemed that when he managed to take what mattered most from Mac Dawson, the loss would touch more than one heart…

* * *

“Thanks for today,” Elle said as she and Gabe headed back through the midway. “I appreciate you keeping my mind off of things.”

Gabe shrugged but grinned down at her. “Least I could do.”

She sent a sidelong glance his way. His limp was more pronounced than it'd been earlier that day. She'd suggested leaving several times, but he'd been determined that she have a good time to keep her mind off the anniversary of her family's car accident.

“Even so, I appreciate it,” she told him, slipping her hand into his. “It means a lot to me.”

He nudged her playfully with his shoulder. “Then my job here is done.”

God, she hoped not…

He'd been a perfect gentleman the entire day—coming to her rescue when he'd thought she was in danger, listening patiently and holding her for hours while she grieved her family, whisking her away to the fair to relieve some of her sorrow and bring a little happiness to her heavy heart. The most he'd done was kiss her hand a few times.

And it was driving her crazy. The time for being sweet and gentlemanly was over. She wanted him. Desperately and dangerously. The realization socked her so hard in the gut, her breath caught in her chest. She'd been fighting the sexual tension, not willing to let her heart get broken again. But Gabe was no longer the boy he'd been when he'd unknowingly trampled a teenage girl's fragile heart. He was a man—and a far kinder, more caring one than she'd allowed herself to see before now.

She wanted to feel those amazing lips on hers, wanted his hands on her skin, wanted to feel him inside her.

But she knew there was no way he was going to make the first move this time. Not after the horrible and hurtful things she'd said to him the last time he'd tried. If she could take back her words, she would, but as her Aunt Charlotte always said, that horse was out of the barn. She'd have to eat a little humble pie and make the first move.

Elle cleared her throat. “So…” she said, trying to sound nonchalant, “aside from the appearance of the son of a homicidal separatist and me nearly yakking on the Ferris wheel, not bad, as far as first dates go.”

He peered down at her from out of the corner of his eye, lifting a single brow, and gave her one of his cockeyed grins. “Was this a date then?”

She felt her cheeks growing warm and would've edged away from him to put a little respectable distance between them had he not released her hand to drape an arm around her shoulders and pull her closer against him.

Emboldened, she slid her arm around his waist and forced her tone to be casual and lighthearted when she replied, “I think this qualifies.”

“Well then, Ms. McCoy,” he said, “I should probably get you home before we break curfew.”

She laughed. “I can't imagine a little thing like a curfew ever mattered to you in the least, Dawson.”

He lifted
both
brows at her this time. “Oh yeah? I'll have you know I made it a point to always get my dates home no later than five minutes before their curfews.” He shrugged, qualifying his accomplishment a bit as he added, “That made it a lot easier to convince the parents to let me hang out with their daughters after they'd gone to bed…”

Elle shook her head on a sigh, trying to keep her mind from wandering to what might happen once he got
her
home. “Do you ever
not
get what you want, Dawson?”

“That remains to be seen.” He turned his eyes down to her, giving her a look so heavy with meaning Elle's pulse kicked into high gear.

The fact that he hadn't answered her question with his trademark arrogance told her he was still keeping his distance, waiting for her to give the green light. As they approached his Charger, her heart hammered in her chest.

C'mon, Elle, c'mon. Make a move. This isn't high school… You know he wants you. Show him you want him, too.

Gabe opened the door for her and turned to hand her in, but instead of sliding into the passenger seat, Elle impulsively threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. She felt his initial surprise in the hard line of his mouth, but it lasted only a split second before his arms came around her, pulling her into the curve of his body so tightly that she was pulled up onto her toes.

She teased his mouth with the tip of her tongue. His lips parted on a groan and his tongue plunged deep, stroking hers with rhythmic insistence. The kiss was savage, hungry. His hands slid down, gripping her bottom and pressing her against him. She ground her hips against his, another moan of need escaping her before she could check it.

He abruptly broke their kiss. “Jesus, Elle,” he practically growled. “You're killin' me here.”

Holding his gaze, she slid her hand between them, over the rock-hard bulge beneath his zipper. “Then we'd better get home. Now.”

His eyes snapped shut and he shuddered, cursing a blue streak. “Get in.”

It wasn't a request.

Without a word, she hopped into the car, not entirely surprised when he seemed to make it around to the drivers' side within seconds. His lips were pressed together in a harsh line as he started up the car and threw it into reverse.

Elle watched him intently as they drove. He kept his eyes on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. “Gabe? Is everything alright?”

When the grim line of his mouth turned down in a frown and he remained silent, she reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. He flinched at her touch and she saw him swallow hard.

“Gabe?” she prompted. “Are you okay?”

* * *

Was he okay? Was he
okay
?

He was in fucking agony!
Shit
. His cock was pounding like a fucking drum. The twenty-minute drive back to her house was going to be sheer torture unless he could get rid of the raging boner pressing against his zipper. But he sure as shit wasn't going to tell her the thought of burying himself balls deep in her sweet heat was making his hands tremble and his mouth dry.

He was
nervous
, for fuck's sake. What the hell was
that
all about? He hadn't been this jacked up the night Suzanne Parsons had talked him into handing over his virginity at Tracy Wilkins's seventeenth birthday party, when they'd stolen away to the barn's hayloft. Okay, so she hadn't exactly had to twist his arm, but
still.

He shifted in his seat to try to relieve some of the ache and finally chanced a glance at Elle. “Yeah, I'm good.”

She gave him her “bullshit” look. “Liar.”

He quickly looked back to the road and eased off the accelerator, suddenly realizing he was going about twenty-five miles per hour over the speed limit. He risked letting go of the steering wheel with one hand to wipe some perspiration at his hairline. “I'm…” He paused, not sure what to say.

She withdrew her hand from his thigh and pulled back, her spine stiffening a little, as if she was offended. “Sorry,” she said stiffly. “I shouldn't have come on so strong. It's not like me to be that forward. I just thought…” Her words trailed off and she heaved a harsh sigh. “I just thought…”

What the hell?
She thought he was having second thoughts because she'd made the first move?

“Jesus, Elle—are you kidding me?” he managed, his voice shot to shit. “That was sexy as hell.
Everything
about you is sexy as hell. I'm hangin' on by a thread here just sitting beside you.”

Her voice was little more than a whisper when she said, “Oh.”

Now that he'd started the ball rolling, though, he couldn't shut the hell up. “Seeing you in those cutoffs all day has been torture. All I've been able to think about is you wrapping those gorgeous, long legs around me. But I respect you way too much to have made a move on you when we were back at your house. Shit. Taking you to the fair was just as much to distract me as it was to help you find a little happiness today. But when you kissed me… Well, let's just say, I'm not so sure how much longer I can be a gentleman.”

“Good.”

He chanced another look at her. “What?”

“Good,” she said, louder this time. “I don't want you to be a gentleman right now, Gabe Dawson.”

Ah, Christ.

He glanced around, getting his bearings. They were still fifteen minutes from her house. A good thirty from his. At the moment, they were surrounded by farm fields and woods. A few yards up the road, a service access road obscured by overgrowth caught his eye and he jerked the wheel, impulsively turning off onto it. He recognized the road in an instant. It led to an abandoned church that had fallen into disrepair years before, after the congregation had disbanded.

“Where are we going?” Elle asked, as he carefully navigated the unpaved rural road.

“Church,” he ground out.

“Sorry,
what
?”

“The place is long forgotten,” he explained. “We don't even have to check it out from time to time to shoo away kids or squatters anymore. Nobody even remembers it's back here.”

Even so, he pulled the Charger around to the back of the structure, just on the off chance that anyone would drive back here after taking a wrong turn, and turned off the engine.

“Gabe, what—”

Elle didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Gabe reached across the space between them and grasped the nape of her neck, his mouth crashing down on hers. Her lips instantly parted, accepting his kiss with abandon. Needing to get her in his arms before he lost his mind, he broke the kiss abruptly and shoved open his door.

She was already out of the car and standing beside it by the time he got around to her side. She was trembling a little, her green eyes wide as she glanced around the darkening woods. For a moment, he wondered if stopping out here was a good idea, but then she took a step forward to meet him, her arms going around his neck and pulling him down to the bliss of her lips.

Emboldened, his hands began to roam, slipping under the hem of her T-shirt to smooth over the soft skin of her back. She sighed as he left her lips to press kisses along the curve of her throat. When he made it to the sensitive area where neck and shoulder met, she gasped but grasped his head on either side, keeping him where he was.

“Should we get back inside?” she asked, breathless.

Before he could even respond, she was opening up the door and climbing into the massive backseat. He didn't hesitate to follow, slamming the door behind him. The moment he was inside, he reached for her, pulling her onto his lap so she was straddling him, and found her lips again. His hands smoothed over the creamy skin of her thighs, loving the way his touch made her moan and shiver as she kissed him hungrily.

And then, holy hell, she left his mouth to trace the line of his jaw with her tongue until she reached his earlobe, which she nipped lightly, making him groan. The little minx chuckled at his reaction and pulled back enough to grin at him. Then, bless her sweet heart, she grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it onto the seat beside them.